Author Description

This dissertation, "Groundwater Discharge Quantification in Marine, and Desert Environments Using Radium Quartet, Radon-222 and Stable Isotopes" by Xin, Luo,, was obtained from The University of Hong Kong (Pokfulam, Hong Kong) and is being sold pursuant to Creative Commons: Attribution 3.0 Hong Kong License. The content of this dissertation has not been altered in any way. We have altered the formatting in order to facilitate the ease of printing and reading of the dissertation. All rights not granted by the above license are retained by the author. Abstract: Groundwater discharge is an important component of global water cycle. Along with groundwater discharge, large amount of chemicals are transported and loaded into surface waters. This thesis investigates groundwater discharge in both terrestrial and marine environments using isotopic approaches. Radium quartet and radon-222 (222Rn), highly concentrated in groundwater and conservatively behaving during the transport, are proved to be effective tracers in quantifying groundwater discharge in various environments. Stable isotopes (δ 18O and δ 2H), significantly fractionated during evaporation, are useful and applicable in studying the water balance in arid waters. Groundwater discharge is an important component of global water cycle. Along with groundwater discharge, large amount of chemicals are transported and loaded into surface waters. This thesis investigates groundwater discharge in both terrestrial and marine environments using isotopic approaches. Radium quartet and radon-222 (222Rn), highly concentrated in groundwater and conservatively behaving during the transport, are proved to be effective tracers in quantifying groundwater discharge in various environments. Stable isotopes (δ 18O and δ 2H), significantly fractionated during evaporation, are useful and applicable in studying the water balance in arid waters. Desert lakes, lacking of surface runoff, are mostly supplied by groundwater d